Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-11-12


 ras. Iahyrmtb. m45e Us ail look unreal ss n eompauy ot witches, and rendered it hari to realize that the weird figures were but the fantsstIcal productions oi Ina water, winch, through unnumbered, slow oeniuries, has been trleking, drop by drop, from the roo'.
 Esoh man was given n torch to carry' and each lady tGllow candle, while tne auides ahead flashed their lights along the walls and occasionally liluminRtea the subtarrgnean chambers with nre works; giving us repeated (but uBDeces- sgry) instruc ions t0 keep eiOse together. No one had the slightest disposition to stray away and try bIs or her luck ID tbe winding galleries aud mysterious com partmsuts of that unknown and dread ful daTkoess.
 Ihe first grand com mysTtnent is said to be about 20O feet long and seventy feet wide. The walls Rre beautifully sbsded with varying tIot5 of green and yellow, while great sheets of stalactItes hanS from the roof. snd lofty piilsrs. palm trees. pyramids, Sbite-sheeted phsntOms, and a thousand other illu-i1ns arise on everp side. h shess s;upendous masses every one sees different cressiOns of hIs own fancy. The oBiy one figure con csrniuE which all agree, IS thas Of the long haired goat,
 THE EVIL SPIRIT OF INDIAN TRADITIONS isut bis head has been knocked of by sacreliS.ous vandsi, who probably wish d 10 demonstrate ths poEeslessness of he csye's enchanted guardian. IL IS the general belief that 10 living animal has been found within the cave; but eau testify to the presence of myri6ds of bats. An explorer who spent the nighi here with a party Of Americans, assures nd that hs not only heard the hisslng of snakes in the darkness, but that they were frightened almost out of their wits by the sudden appearance of some fierce beast, having the sDotted skin of lsop- ard, whose loud Toariu2s echoed terri fcally among the vaults, and which, at- ter gazing at them by the light of their torches. stslked naRestically back into ,he darkness, where they hsd no dispo- sitiOn to pursue him.
 In the second vast apartment our as' tonisLueai increased Bt every step; some times We seemed to be ia an under ground EyyptaiR temple, ua!uro's archi- lecture being decidedly O-!su:gl and the strange ferns everywhere about us re- sembling uncou:h idols. The multitude of pyramids anu obelisks suggested the th ught tha, the ancient people, whc sges ago, built these Egyptian like pals,es in the south of Mexico sock Taeil architectural ide.s fsom some ntturai cave cf his disc-ipii0n-iust ga nature herself suggested tine beautiful Corinth- ian pillar. Then We entered an appar- enuy enchanted country, ID which every thing had been turned to stone. There were fountains Of petrIfied water, icy pyramids hundred feet high, trees hung with frozen moss, eslums hung with gI- gGntic scanthus leaves, pillars whose | lofty tops "A ere icsf in the shadows over hegd-all looking like the work of pre- | adamites, yet evidently wrOu yht only by | Him who Iuha6iis eternity. this second chamber is higher than the dtst and | said to be four hundred feet long. We passed into an immense double
 gallery supported by pyrGmidal forma- tions Oi great ElZe-stalAgmltes formed | by water drippIrg on the earth. A thousand odd figures are folnd here
 gothic shrines, mutnmits, druids with | flowing boards,
 SHAPES THAT sTARTLE THE BEHoLDER
 like some wild dream; aud among them
 are countless pyramids. obellsks and
 basins thst seem to Oe made of puresi | alabaster. Crest drops trickled down
 upon our heads, and upon the wet and slippery ground are eincalcuable numbers of small perfectly rounded balls, dead
 white petrifac.ions, forming little hol- lows The-e they lie. We thought of Kip | Van Wrinkles brownies playing ,en-pins | among She Catsasils, and We were fam
 to hasten lest We too become pillars of | stone.
 | B. and by We came 10 another and
 lOftier corridor, supported by pillaT- | covered with what seemed to be creep.
 ing plants and rows of gigantic stone
 csulifi1wers-esch leaf most delicately
 chiseled and looking like appropriate food for the collossal GSellers of the | cavern. As the torches q tlsshei upon
 masses of rock sni hillocks crowned
 with [, mples and pyramids, congealed
 tOrreu ts that seemed tO belong to north ! pole and doTic colums like those of
 Greece, ve gave ourselves up to admIrs-
 tion; but to ettempt any thing like min-
 ute description IS entirely out of the | ques len.
 | Among ail the curious accidents pro- ducei by dripping ggisr none is more
 exquisite than perfect ampEItheatre
 ten times larger thar that Lt CnSntgn- | que, with regular benches surrounded by
 an immense organ whose pipes, when
 struck, gave forth doep musical sonDd. | This organ formation is not uneOm mon in cave5ns. l have seen Il in those al
 bourBy, Harpers Ferry PresquerIa etc, and am told that i= also found in Ken | tucky's Mammoth Cave. l. Is not diff hcult tp flll in with the Indian's super
 natural belief that supernatural beings
 have ibeIF sanctuary ID these petriied | SOiitude-, and that they were built by | some Tscs of Titi6E5 m tue morning
 twilight of time.
 I cannot Sell you how fGr we went-it
 seemed impossible 10 calculate time and distance among these stlpenduous m6s- | ses. The interior oi the mountain has
 been explored only sbou: twelve miles,
 and It is belIeved th6t greater wonders he beyond. As we advanced the way be- cane nore difficult because of detached
 masses O. crystal rock, and sound of rlshIng waters came faiBtly from dis ttnce. Our guides DOW strongly urged return, and suspeoting the true reason to
 be, that they were aifGld of losing them selves and as in tho mighty tOmb We re- luctsntiy retraced our steps, leaving uueKplored numerous coTrIderl branch Ipg off into the darkUess.
 Not many years BgossOns American tourist discovered
 THE SKELETON nF A MAN
 in the mysterious depths of ibis cavern. the skull nearly covered with crystaliz- ations. He had doubtless entered these l. L. r1, eth